i was interacting with a former vet and mentioned to me he was in the Battle of the Lady Gulf. Now, I was wondering if anyone knew any information I may obtain about this battle or if even a battle ever exsisted. He mentioned that US navy attacked after Pearl Habor and it was a victory for the US for they destroyed all Japanese ships but four. If anyone has any information, Post it and let all of us read, or.... email me with whatever info you have. TinyFolio@aol.com... thank you Historians.

The battle you are talking about was the Battle of Leyte Gulf (pronounced "Lay-Tee"), near the island of Leyte in the Philippines. The battle took place late in 1944, several years after the Pearl Harbor attack.

That battle actually happened in several phases, including the night action at Surigao Straight, the last battleship engagement of WW2 (or since). It also included the Battle off Samar where a small U.S. Navy task force of escort carriers was attacked by a large group of Imperial Japanese Navy surface ships. It was during this time that Admiral Halsey was fooled by the Japanese into thinking a large carrier force was north of the landing site at Leyte, and he went off to chase them. This led to the still controversial issue of overall Communication, Commmand and Control between Halsey (3rd Fleet) and Kinkaid (7th Fleet).

Despite what your friend told you, there were a lot of Japanese ships that survived the battle. Although many were destroyed, there were far more than four that got away.

There are a great many books on this topic if you are interested. Start at your local library with Samuel Eliot Morison's "History of United States Naval Operations in World War Two." This 15-volume set is commonly available at most libraries.

You can also do an internet search and get a number of websites that provide information. Here is one that contains a good summary of the battle: